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McDonald's offers kids dream trip to World Cup

Any kid can have a photo of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Clint Dempsey in his or her room. Brynn Nickle has a photo of her WITH U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. On the field. Before the U.S. men played

McDonald's offers kids dream trip to World Cup

Brynn Nickle, then 6, escorted U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard during a World Cup game in South Africa in 2010. McDonald's, which sponsors the program, has been a World Cup sponsor since 1994.(Photo: Courtesy: McDonald's)

Any kid can have a photo of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Clint Dempsey in his or her room.

Brynn Nickle has a photo of her WITH U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. On the field. Before the U.S. men played England at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"It was awesome," said Brynn, now 10.

Four years after Brynn and one other U.S. girl got a free trip to the World Cup as a Player Escort, McDonald's is upping the cute factor by sending 25 kids to this summer's tournament in Brazil. From now until April 6, children ages 6 to 11 can enter a sweepstakes for a five-day, four-night trip to the World Cup that will include them walking a player onto the field before a game.

The trip includes round-trip airfare, meals and lodging for the child and one parent or guardian. In addition to attending a World Cup game, the kids will participate in cultural activities and play a soccer game with other Player Escorts.

The winners will be chosen April 8. One U.S. child is assured of being at the final.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Stasia Nickle, who accompanied Brynn to South Africa. "I still get choked up thinking about where we were at, getting to see South Africa, which is a totally different culture than we're used to.

"She was 6 years old then and didn't really realize how huge this was," Stasia Nickle added. "Now she's finally getting to realize, `Hey, that was kind of a big deal I met these people and got to do this.'"

McDonald's has been a World Cup sponsor since 1994, when it was held in the United States. With restaurants in over 118 countries and soccer played in all of them, it's a natural fit, said Dean Barrett, global marketing officer for McDonald's.

But the company wanted to get kids involved, too, so it came up with the idea of the Player Escorts before the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The program was so successful McDonald's did it again in South Africa, and will have 1,408 Player Escorts in Brazil.

While fans at the game or watching on TV may see it as a sweet novelty – what's more adorable than superstar athletes holding the hand of a child as they walk onto the field for the biggest event of their career? – there's a deeper purpose, Barrett said.

"Our … objective was to get kids to think more and more about being active and playing," he said. "It's meant to be as much a spectacle of being involved with the World Cup itself as having kids have the chance, culturally, to experience other children and other opportunities from around the world."

Brynn Nickle's parents weren't thinking about all of that when they saw the Player Escort contest on Facebook four years ago. Brynn loves sports, but doesn't get to play organized soccer because the family lives in Clearfield, Iowa, a small, rural community.

"We talked about it back and forth and finally decided why not?" Stasia Nickle said. "And Brynn is big into any sports so we thought this was an incredible way to make priceless memories for her, not actually thinking we'd get picked."

But get picked Brynn did.

The flight to South Africa was the first time on an airplane for the 6-year-old. She and her mom made friends with kids and parents from England. In addition to the U.S.-England game in Rustenburg, she got to go to the kickoff concert featuring Shakira and the Black Eyed Peas – and was pulled on stage to dance with them.

"She will never get an opportunity to do that again in her life," Stasia Nickle said.

Walking onto the field in front of a stadium full of people – not to mention the millions of people watching on TV – was "kind of scary, but fun at the same time," Brynn said.

Though she was paired with Howard, Barrett said not all of the kids will get to escort players from their country. There are new Player Escorts for each of the 64 games. That means McDonald's will be bringing kids to Brazil at various times throughout the tournament, which runs June 12 to July 13.

"As the games go on and there are less and less teams, you have less likelihood those kids … will be there with their teams," Barrett said. "On the other hand, it's bigger and bigger games. So it's fun."